Steerable motion-picture camera stand



Aug. 8, 1950 A. c. COUTANT 2,518,238

STEERABLE MOTION PICTURE CAMERA STAND Original Filed Feb. 6, 1946 Fig.1 1

II i 9 10 Fig.2

Patented Aug. 8, 1950 Andr =Clment Ooutant, Paris, France, assignor to Suzanne, Rosalie "Coutard, born Mathot,

Paris, France Original application February '6, 1946, Serial No.

645,870, new Patent No. 2,484,982, dated Octo- -ber 18,- 1949. Divided and this application January 31, 1947,- Serial No. 725,427. In France August 13, 1943:: v

- Section 1, *Pi' blic'Law 690, August s, 1946 1 Patent expires August 13,1963

The present invention relates to a trolley mounted stand for motion picture cameras. Stands of this kind generally comprise three wheels and steering means controlling the direction of same. Said steering means are generally constituted by an orientable lever secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft pivoted on the frame of the trolley and the lower end of which carries a central pinion meshing with a series of pinions controlling the direction of the wheels and maintaining said wheels parallel to each other. This device involves several drawbacks: the wheels can be orientated through 180 due to the disposition of the steering lever; the pinions form a source of noise which is not acceptable in the case of talking moving pictures; due to the spacing of the wheels, the size and the weight of the pinions are very important. In another known embodiment of a rolling stand for motion picture cameras, the wheels of the trolley are provided with horizontal sprocket wheels connected by a chain driven by a central sprocket wheel secured to a vertical shaft provided as in the preceding case with a 180 orientable steering lever; this device involves the same drawbacks as the first, except the weightwhich can be slightly reduced.

The present invention has for object the eliminating of the above mentioned drawbacks of the known art. According to the invention each of the three wheels of the trolley is capped by a hemispherical bell pivotally mounted at the end of each of the three arms of the stand, each bell being provided with an approximately horizontal spiral groove having a plurality of convolutions, and the three bells being connected, positions in which the three wheels are parallel, by an endless cable which is guided by three rollers and which winds several turns in the groove of each of said bells, said cable being fixed at one point in said groove and a steering lever being pivotally mounted in a clevis forming the end of the pivot of one of the bells.

By way of example, one embodiment of a trolley mounted stand according to the invention is described hereinafter and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 shows the stand in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a plan view diagrammatically showing the steering and control device of the wheels.

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of a part of said device.

This application is a division of my copending application No. 645,870, filed February 6, 1946, and now Patent No. 2,484,982, October 18, 1949.

The invention is hereinafter described as ap- 1 claim. (01. 2804's),

- pliedto an elevating stand for motion picture cameras forming the subject matter of. my. CO3 pending application No. 645,870 and comprising a frame formed by three arms I, 2, ,3 and carrying acentral stationary sleeve 4 and two-telescopic tubes 5 and 9 sliding within one another and within the sleeve 4, said tubes being provided with racks 6 and I0 and control means, meshing with said racks and actuated by cranks I and II being provided at the top of the sleeve 4 and of the tube 5 respectively. The cranks I and II are angularly shifted the one with respect to the other and notch I3 is provided at the top of the sleeve 4 for accommodating the control means I2 mounted on tube 5 in its lowered position.

Each of the three wheels I5, I6, N (Fig. 3) is mounted in a hemispherical bell 2| which is provided on the outside with an approximately horizontal spiral groove 22 formed by two or three convolutions. The vertical pivot of said bell is mounted in a ball bearing 23 which is secured to the corresponding arm I of the trolley. The bell pivot of the wheel I5 carries aclevis 24 in which is pivoted the steering lever I8. Owing to this mounting, the lever I8 can be used to orientate the wheel I5 and, after this operation, can be moved downward-s on one side or the other into the one of the two positions in which it projects least beyond the trolley. An endless cable 25 connects the three bells 2I, 26, 21 of the three wheels by winding itself several turns on the spiral of each of them. It is fixed at one point by means of a cable gripping device, not shown, on the periphery of each of the bells, the mounting being effected in such a manner that the planes of the three wheel-s are parallel with each other and with the lever I8. The cable 25 is held inside the three-armed trolley by the three guide rollers 28, 29, 30. By means of this device, the lever I8 enables the three wheels to be oriented in any direction and the stand to be pushed, in order to move it in that direction.

The possibility of moving the lever I8 downwards on one side or the other about its pivot in the clevis 24 will enable, in numerous cases, the bulk of the stand to be decreased, so that said stand can, for example, be pushed further against an obstacle such as a partition, or into a corner of the scenery where it could not have been placed if the lever I8 had not been able to swing downwards in this manner.

The control of the direction of the wheels by means of an endless cable which is wound several turns on the bell of each wheel and is connected to each of said bells at one point, together 3 with theznosaibilit'y at swinging? thl r cfintmi level: downwards; enable thedirection of the move-- ment to be varied continuously through at least 360 This cable control device is strictly silent whichl is very important for taking pictures accom panied by sound recordings.

The trolley mounted stand-thus oomtituted l's t of a particularly simple andcheap construction.

The steering device according to the invention can naturally be used withlthe: same advantages; on trolley mounted stands of; any kindiother, than the telescopic elevating standihercinbeiore" deescribed and shown in Fig. 1 byway of examplez What I claim is:

A trolley mounted elevatable: camera stands.

having a plurality of supporting wherelsrolling; on horizontal pins, an endless cable for interlocking the wheels in alrelative position' corre sponding to the parallelism of the wheels and a roller mounted under the trolley; betweenitwo mccesaiw wheels to maintain this cable under tension; in combination with: a bell-shaped cap mounted oneach ofs'aid pins andpivotallysup pumed under: said trolley and spiral grooves on each ofi said bell sh'apedcaps-to guide saidcable,

4 one; oflaid; cims being provided" ztziteunper end with a clevis= passing through the tmlley and pivotally supporting a wheel steering lever of sufficient length to be within an easy reach of theecameramansihand at the greatest elevation of the stand.

ANDRE CLEMENT COUTANT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the me of this patent? UNITED- STATES PATENTS Nfimber' Name Date 1,5393936 elm: June 2, 1925 2,012,628 Howell Aug. 27, 1935 $178,950: Parkhill Sept. 26, 1939 2,200,736 Bedford et al. May 14, 1940 2;2'28224'! Cunningham Jan. 14, 1941 2,235,045 Ronning Mar. 18, 1941 Housee- Nov. 13, I945 21283206 8toke' .i -d- July-1, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Gountry- Date 21,130 Great Britaimu .K.D..19l2 

